I started this story on a plastic blue bench at the Quantico brig. I sat across a Marine in a  blue jump suit and wire rim glasses. I could tell he was also apprehensive to see me as I was him. But there we were, face-to-face, two sets of security guard eyes on us, with a clock counting down the minutes of visiting hours. 

This was Paul, a second cousin, who I met once at maybe age fourteen. I can’t exactly remember. But he lived down south and I was up near Chicago, so during my childhood our paths never crossed. Yet at this moment on a chilly winter day, they finally did.

Paul worked the legal system hard. Not long after our visit, he was released and handed a Bad conduct discharge. (I then produced Decision to Desert Part I and Part II.) A few months later, I asked MTV if I could produce one final segment - and do it in Chicago. They said yes.

During the course of the Street Team tenure, I decided if I was ever going to be in a position to define the tone of my career, this was it, right here and right now.  So with that, I made the promise to tell difficult stories. Work hard to get the information right — seek truth and report it. Here’s to trying.